


Irreplaceable

by Aceofstars16



Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: Ford Pines' Portal Adventures, Ford is a sentimental sap, Ford would never admit to missing stan but he does, Other, Stan O' War, Weird creatures from other dimensions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-07
Updated: 2019-04-07
Packaged: 2020-01-06 01:35:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 822
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18378248
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aceofstars16/pseuds/Aceofstars16
Summary: Ford loses something special to him, and desperately tries to get it back. Aka, Ford is a sentimental dork who would never admit it but misses his brother quite a lot while dimension hopping.





	Irreplaceable

**Author's Note:**

> [Tumblr post](http://aceofstars16.tumblr.com/post/184000738373/irreplaceable)

“Come on, come ON!” Ford shouted into the empty alleyway, searching desperately in the dim light. It had to be here somewhere, it just had to! But the damp ground held no sign of his treasure – a picture he should’ve gotten rid of years ago. Some days he would toss it into the trash, only to dig it out a few minutes later and store it in its place of honor – the chest pocket of his coat. Other days he found himself staring at it, a terrible mix of emotions waging war in his chest until he gave up and shoved it out of sight again.

A small snicker of laughter echoed through the alley and Ford’s head jerked up, narrowing his eyes to try and see through his goggles – the atmosphere here was okay to breathe but he found if he exposed his eyes for too long, they started hurting like crazy. Through the tinted lens, he could see something crawling through the huge dumpsters.

Great, just great. He’d bet a million credits – if he had any, which unfortunately he did not – that whatever creature it was had found the paper that had fallen out of his coat during his…escape.

“Who’s there?”

Another strange laugh was the only answer.

Cursing under his breath, Ford pulled out a tiny screw driver – one of the few things he had managed to keep through dimension jumping and flicked it back and forth.

A few moments passed, but the sound of tumbling garbage signaled the approach of…a monkey? Well, not a monkey like any Ford had known, but then again, he hadn’t really seen many creatures like those of his earth. Aside from that one parallel earth, and even then, the cats weren’t quite the same – their eyes looked like goat eyes and it was honestly kind of unsettling. This creature was even stranger.

Long ears that curved up in a spiral, a squashed nose, beady little eyes, and a tail that was so long it disappeared into the shadows. It twisted its head to the side, but instead of stopping when any normal animal’s head should, it kept going until it was almost upside-down.

“You like it, huh?”

A squeaky laugh and head bobbing was the only answer he got. That, and the creature reaching out and grabbing the tool with its two fingered paw.

“Nuh uh.” Ford pull the screw driver away – he wasn’t about to lose it to a monkey. After all, it had helped get him out of quite a few tight spots. Losing it would not be a good move.

RAWAH!!! A screech that anyone within a mile would hear escaped the creature’s mouth, causing Ford to ram his hands over his ears – and even when he removed his hands they were still ringing profusely. Oh that was going to bring some attention to his position…he needed to get out of here. Fast.

“Okay, okay! How about a trade?” Ford held up the screwdriver again and the creature closed its mouth and titled its head again. “I’m looking for a picture, about ye big.” As he spoke, Ford tried to measure how big the paper would be.

One blink, then another, and then it started bobbing its head quickly, bouncing up and down as the end of its tail emerged from the darkness, wrapped around a small piece of paper. And despite not having a good view of it, Ford knew it was his.

“Yeah, that’s it!” Reaching out, he tried to grab it, but the creature hissed and flicked its tail out of reach. Frowning at the garbage monkey he sighed. “Fine, at the same time?” He held out the screwdriver, trying not to think about how stupid he was being. Screwdrivers could come in handy, a picture…not so much. But at the same time, he could always find a new tool, even if it meant stealing one, but the picture? That was one of a kind.

The tail emerged again, holding out the picture, and at the same time, Ford grabbed the picture and the creature seized the screwdriver.

Straightening out the crinkled edges, Ford let out a relieved breath. It was a little worse for wear, but it was still intact. Two young boys grinned up at him, standing on a broken sail boat, challenging the world together. A twinge of annoyance and anger sprang up in Ford’s chest, but a moment later it dissolved into a bittersweet sadness, and he couldn’t help but wonder how his brother was. It had been what, over fifteen years now?

“That’s him!”

Crap. Ford didn’t even look over at the voice – which he was sure belonged to a cop of sorts. Instead, he shoved the picture in his pocket - making sure it wasn’t going to fall out again - before booking it out of there as fast as he could, the creature’s laughing howls echoing behind him.


End file.
